Purgatory
by darklight13
Summary: One must be held accountable for the crimes of the past. Purgatory is where you go to recieve your punishment. Anubis has much to answer for...
1. Purgatory

Purgatory

Falling hard and fast Anubis fell from the sky striking the ground beneath the stream. Yet Anubis continued to fall, behind him he could hear a boy's grief filled scream. Yulie. Did the boy actually care about him that much? Pity he would never know. It was also a pity that he could never tell the boy about how much he had loved him for Anubis realized that he was dead and the falling was that of his soul, falling to whatever destiny that awaited him. As he looked ...down? Up? He saw a light filling the space? Ahead of him the light was red, red as blood, and the sounds reaching his ears began to scare him. Screams and cries of terror, pain, torture, sadness, fear and anger were coming from this light. Suddenly the ground was very close and he slammed into a dubious looking puddle.

As he climbed to his feet he heard a sound that did not belong in this agonized place: the sound of merry laughter. He looked up looking for the source of the sound and found it. She stood there close to him looking at him with sparkling eyes of blue, her hair was as blonde as Halo's own with a woman figure beneath her black pants and blood red shirt. Her laughter eased into a smile as she gazed at him. Studying him. Something there in the back of her eyes reminded him of someone but he could not say whom.

"Welcome warlord." Those were her first words and with those words telling him that she knew him. Yet she was not afraid in fact she sounded almost flippant. "You look like shit." Well that went without saying he had just died, fallen into a steam then fallen into... his sense of smell told him that the 'puddle' that he had landed in was probably human excrement. Lovely.

"Walk with me Anubis, we have much to discuss." Climbing out of the depression that held the wastes he walked towards her. Filthy and disgusted he wondered if she would offer him a change of clothes or at least a chance to wash off. Somehow he knew that she would not. They walked in silence for a time, reaching an area that held many smooth rocks as he passed he saw scenes from his life: his mother singing in the fields, his father repairing the roof, the slaughter of his father and rape of his mother, training in stealth, art of war, joining Talpa's army, the horrors that he had committed as Talpa's pawn.

They stopped at one particular scene where he was raping a girl child she was what ten? Her screams of pain and terror piercing his soul while his own laughter battered at his heart. Her parents watching him rape her fearful, angry and distraught. Anubis watched himself go through all of the couple's children, seven of them boys and girls. He then took some powder and forced it down the father's throat causing an involuntary erection on the man and Anubis forced him to rape his own children. By the time the man was done four of his children were dead and the others were sent outside to the soldiers to finish off. Anubis sent the mother outside as well. Bringing the poor wretch outside telling him to watch his family die. "Death by love." Anubis heard himself whisper into the man's ear then heard his own demented chuckle as the wife screamed as multiple soldiers took her at once.

"Enough!" he cried out to the woman beside him, he wanted to see no more of his deeds as the Warlord of Cruelty. He already knew that he had been a horrible and vicious man; the Ancient himself had known this! She laughed at him and turned to look at him. "Oh Anubis, you truly are a foolish man. Tell me how many people have you killed?" how many? How many! She was asking how many he had killed, that one family, the village the lived in, the other villages that he had been responsible for their destruction, that entire race of people that had stood against him and his master, thousands if possibly more. So many deaths in his four hundred years of service to Talpa did she really expect an answer?

"Anubis you have been a very bad boy, yes, yes, I know all about you stint as a monk there at the end of your life but truly did you really think you would get away with all of those murders?" Anubis, stared at her and frowned, "The Ancient one told me that if I served him well and acted in only the best interests of the greater world I would be absolved. I did, I gave my life in doing this, and I gave my life in order to the last of the Ancients own line. I protected the weak and defenseless and helped retrieve the Jewel of Life. Do these acts not say something of my changed character? Am I not absolved?"

At this she erupted into laughter, then just as suddenly she became serious. Her eyes held no pity, nothing, no emotion and in that moment he knew who she reminded him of. She reminded him of himself when he was just as emotionless and cruel. "No. No you are not. You are condemned. You are a damned being. Yes, you were promised absolution but that was only if you survived the war. Obviously you did not. You were to become the next Ancient one. You were chosen to create a new line of guardians. You failed. There are only so many chances you can be given Anubis, and I am afraid that you have been turned over to me. With me you will answer for all of your crimes. Your sentence will be ten years."

Ten years? Ten years in torment? He was to suffer that long before he was passed on? To where heaven? She was laughing again "yes you will pass on to glory when your term is up. But..." a vicious smile played on her lips "...you seem to misunderstand me. You see you will not serve ten years. No, you will serve ten years for every life you have taken. Start doing the math." She began to laugh again. Anubis was grabbed from behind his arms twisted up to prevent his escape. Ten years? Ten years for every life? Ancient one no, please no.

The minions of this purgatory dragged him away to begin his torture. His screams echoing mixed in with her laughter. She at least enjoyed her stay here.


	2. Dreams

Disclaimer: it's not mine. If it were then a lot of people that write fan fiction would be writing the scripts to the next installment of RW/YST.

AN: No, I do not hate Anubis; I just got tired of seeing him die and go on to heaven. So here I am to torture him.

Purgatory

_Hands grasping, grabbing at hair, arms and legs. These filthy dirty vile hands. Now they were beating the flesh they once held, taunts and insults hurled with every breath. Then suddenly laughter from a woman, her voice sending chills down the listener's spine. The beating stops and suddenly there is pain. Feet are held over fire roasting, cooking, them. Laughter again as the meat is pulled off of the bones and fed to the prisoner. Forced to eat their own cooked flesh that had been part of their own body. Screams ripped out of a throat as scenes of the same torture are applied to another unfortunate hundreds of years ago. This time the torturer from then is the victim now. More feminine laughter as more screams come from her victim. Screaming...screaming...hands grasping...grabbing...laughter...hands holding...pressed down...._

Mia woke with a jerk, her own screams echoing back to her in her house. The hands that held her down were not the hands of demons but those of the Ronin warriors. Ryo, Cye, Kento, Rowen, and Sage all stood close to her bed. All but Sage held her down and he held his nose to stop the blood from flowing.

She blinked at them all and slowly they released her. "Mia?" Cye's voice cut through the haze in her mind. Eyes filling up with tears she flung herself into his arms and broke down into hysterics. Sobbing as incoherent words filled the air as they all looked at one another. Cye finally wrapped his arms around her and began soothing her, his accent thick with worry.

Motioning for the others to leave Cye continued to comfort her. All of the others crowding around would not help calm her down when they were so obviously scared. Her sobs wracked her body and slowly her terror began to subside. Finally she released him and leaned back from him. Cye kept his arms around her so that she couldn't go far. "Mia." She refused to look up. "Mia, please, what happened? Are you okay?" Mentally Cye kicked himself_ 'Dumb question mate.'_ She began to shiver again, Cye pulled her close once more and listened to her much more coherent account of her nightmare.

After she had finished they sat on her bed together arms around one another. Cye finally opened his eyes, he hadn't even realized that he had closed them, and released a shaky breath. It had taken all of his ability to calm Mia down and he had even employed that tiny fraction of power that he possessed as an Empath to relax her. In short now he was exhausted, shocked and scared. For in fact her dream had frightened him, and he still had to tell the others that she was more or less all right.

Running one hand through his hair and down his face he found tears of his own that had escaped without his notice. Scrubbing his face with his hand he wiped away his tears. '_Now time to clean Mia up.'_ Looking down he saw her face tilted to the side, eyes closed. _'Well, at least she's calmer.'_ Sliding slowly and manuvering her body he managed to get her lying back down on her bed.he sighed deeply. Wondering what had brought on this violent dream he walked towards the door. Now all he had to do was tell the guys. _' This is not going to be fun.'_


	3. Sleep

Disclaimer: Yes, I know I'm twisted, but hey it's fun!! By the way I don't own it just having a bit of fun with some ideas in my head.

AN: Sorry it's been so long. Just opened up a new store and it has been hell. Lots of crap to keep up with. Enjoy!

Purgatory

Mia sat looking out at the stars in her bedroom. This was the first time she had ever sat in the room with dread. For the last two months she had the Dreams. Each one different but yet held the same theme. She was tortured and shown pictures or images of someone else receiving the same torture as what she was experiencing. Yet it was not a mirror of that she was sure. And the laughter, the horrid laughter that came from that horrible woman. Sometimes she could see her; this woman was beautiful but cruel. No, merciless is more like the word. Always laughing at her pain.

And the pain... Mia closed her eyes at the thought of the pain. It didn't matter that she was asleep; the pain was as real as the wind blowing across her face now. She shook as images of the last Dream overcame her. Down on all fours, being violated in every opening that was available. Yet that was not the worst. She was burned by the heated rods that slammed into her backside. Whipped constantly and salt poured constantly all over her wounds. Her male member was pushed constantly into a willing woman yet this woman's insides were lined with razors, slicing and cutting. Yes, in these Dreams she was a male. She had realized this early on, and it made her cringe with pain every time she thought about the sexual tortures that she had been put through.

The door to her room opened and in walked Rowen. He had a few books in his hand and a small black bag in the other. She gave a small sad smile at the sight of this bag, for in it contained enough tranquilizers to put out all of the Ronins and the Warlords. Including Sekmhet. For Rowen was her bodyguard for the next three nights. He was there to keep her from harming herself or anyone else if she became too violent in her sleep. She had wondered for a while about her ability to still sleep after all of this time, but it never failed, at eleven-twenty seven every night she would fall asleep. Did not matter what she was doing, cooking, cleaning, reading, researching, or even watching TV. She simply went to sleep.

"Mia. You alright?" Rowen's voice cut through her mental haze. Looking back up into his face she saw worry and sadness. For the next three nights he would sit by her bed awake, waiting for the moment when she would snap and try to cause havoc. It was as much hell for him as it was for her. It was hell for all of them. All of the Ronins took turns with the three night shifts.

"Yeah, I'll be okay." She replied quietly. Looking at the clock she realized that it was late. It was almost eleven. A warm hand on her shoulder kept her from getting up. Rowen peered down at her "Mia, don't lie to me. What's wrong." Shaking she looked down at her hands. Tears clouded her vision. "It's going to be bad again, I know it. I can feel it. I..."A sob cut off the rest of her words. She tried to get a hold of herself but her terror continued to get worse. Rowen knelt down beside her and held her quietly.

Soon he felt her body relax and begin to slump. He lifted his head and glanced at the clock. Eleven-twenty eight. He sighed and looked down at her. She seemed to be at peace but he knew better. He picked her up and carried her over to her bed. Once she was in bed her face began to change, it was as if she was another person. She didn't seem to be the same old Mia. Her features changed to match those of ...whomever. Rowen reached for his books and the bag. He opened one of his books and pulled out a pencil. This time he was going to get it on paper. The handy sketchpad Cye had lent him would help. He wanted to draw her face when she was in the grip of her nightmares. To try and figure out who was in her mind, he was determined. _She's gone through so much. I can't let her suffer; I won't let her suffer more than she has to. _They all wanted to help and would die to make sure she was safe. Yet this seemed to be one threat that was able to hurt them the most by hitting the one they all loved so dearly. This new threat was now in Mia's mind. This was one fight they might not be able to win.

With that thought Rowen grew even more resolute. He was going to comprehend this new menace. Somehow.


	4. Out

Disclaimer: Nope, I checked. Still don't own them. Not even Dais!!! (Sigh) No money, don't sue. Please?

AN: Thanks for the reviews I appreciate your feedback. Flames are welcome too. If I seem too harsh, wait awhile. It will get better.

Purgatory 

Cold air blasted his body causing him to shiver violently. His body was covered with burns, making the air seem colder still. Like a hot summer day and walking into a cold room. Only this was ten times worse. He did not dare dwell on his burns, that made him think of how he had received them. The memory of the red-hot coals being laid on his back and his chest caused him to cringe. Instead he thought of food, wonderful food. The idea of a hot meal enticed him so. Just like the idea of a hot warm body to ravish.

Then he heard it, the laughter. That horrid laughter. Every time he heard it he knew his punishment wasn't far behind. Fearfully he wondered what he had done to deserve HER attentions. SHE only came around when he had been bad. He no longer knew who she was or even his own name. It had been centuries since he remembered why he was here. For a moment he realized that the longer he was here, the less he could recall.

At that moment he heard a shrill scream; it was HER. It was a scream of absolute total and complete rage. She was angry, and worse she was headed his way at blinding speed.

Hours later he laid prone on the ground. Blood pouring out of his mouth, his new wounds stinging. The burns long forgotten. Indeed, they had healed as soon as his new torture began. This was how it had always been. There were never any scars from any of his injuries. The pain only lasted until the next creature decided that he needed another tutorial on good behavior. Dimly he could remember a time when he knew comforts. Now all he thought about was pain. And how to avoid more of it.

Freedom. That was how to get rid of the pain. To be free from HER. But how?

Cyren sat down, mentally reviewing all of the work she had accomplished. As the warden, if that term could be used, of this place where justice was meted out to the evil beings that had ever walked, she was kept very busy. Yet out of all of her 'guests' she never had had one for this length of time. Of course her mind was focused on Anubis, the former Warlord of Cruelty. The boy with the face of an angel and a heart that was nonexistent.

Of course she knew of Talpa but he was denied to her. He had been taken by the Ancient One himself, and she truly did not wish to know what had happened to him. A laugh escaped from her, thinking of the Ancient One and the silly promises he had given Anubis. He had to have known better when he had told the warlord that he was absolved. All who were human answered to her. Period. No one absolved anyone from their deeds in their lives. She reviewed a life, chose a suitable punishment, and acted upon it immediately. Judge, jury, and executioner. Quite simple. She had been doing this since the very beginning of life. Of creation. This was why she was here. Her purpose. She was the ultimate Justice. And nobody had ever escaped her or her world. Nobody.


	5. No

Disclaimer: Nope, not yet. No cash so I wouldn't recommend suing, unless you can take a (bad) check.

Purgatory

Kento heaved a huge sigh. This was the last night of his guard duty. Good, he was really tired. Freakin' hell. He stole a glance at Mia's clock, Ten-thirty. It was too early for the dreams but as he had learned anything was possible. Speaking of Mia…

She lay still on her bed, sleeping peacefully. For now, later she would become a raving hellion that he had to cope with for the rest of the night. She had picked up the habit of going to bed a little early so that she could get a little bit of peace in her sleep. Kyra had agreed with this, saying that her soul needed the seclusion and peace of natural sleep to restore her conscience mind and ragged sprit to proper alignment. Whatever the hell that meant.

Letting the comic book slip out of his hand Kento sat back and began to think seriously about this situation. He placed his foot up on the nightstand and tilted his chair back. Looking at the ceiling he thought about some of the rougher times in the past. Mia had once tried to lock them out of her bedroom and sleep by herself but they had broken in and stopped her from cutting herself with a piece of broken glass while encompassed in a dream. She had even become so depressed and stressed over the dreams that she tried to kill herself. Sage had been with her on that day, she had gone into the kitchen with a bottle of pain relievers. The sound of a glass crashing to the floor alerted him. He found her on the floor in the kitchen muttering that she couldn't be strong anymore, that she couldn't handle it. She had downed over thirty pills and wouldn't have stopped if he hadn't interrupted her. He raced her to the closest help he could think of. Sage had gone to the Dynasty looking for Sekmhet. The half demon had helped by giving her a draught that had induced vomiting. When she was out of danger he and the others had asked for an explanation.

Now, four months later, the former Warlords knew of the problem that haunted Mia. They had even volunteered to take up shifts in the night watches. This was when they truly began to believe. Dais had walked out of Mia's bedroom on that first night of his watch with a black eye. Cale now had a broke arm and Sekmhet now sported multiple bruises. Kyra had meditated, prayed, blessed, chanted, and who knows what else and even she had walked out the next morning with a split lip. When she was gripped by these dreams Mia's strength increased ten-fold. Kento thought of all of the bruises he had sustained when watching over her sleep. Wearing his sub-armor had become second nature again.

This was getting ridiculous, but there was nothing that they knew to do other than tie her down. In fact they had tried that but Mia had broken the ropes _and_ the bed. Sedatives didn't help anymore and knocking her out with force usually made matters worse. He was getting to be the only one who could honestly take her in a fight and come out relatively unscathed. Cye had once used his…. Abilities to calm her down, but that had completely exhausted him and he couldn't finish his last night of the watch.

The stress was the worst part. It was bad on all of them, worst of all on Yulie. The kid was getting into fights all the time at school, teachers calling asking why his behavior was so bad, lousy grades. Ryo had dropped out so he could get a job helping support the household. Mia had a huge bank account left to her by her grandfather, but they couldn't access it because Mia was restricted to how much she could get out each month. Two thousand dollars was a lot of money but not enough to cover bills, food, tuition, books, and other living and school expenses for a four-month period. And to make matters worse Yulie had come home one day with nasty rumors that Mia was whoring herself out to all of the guys and the strange men seen at her home. The guys all had heard something close to this but it never got to this point. And topping on the cake was that these rumors were getting back to Yulie! Idly Kento wondered at how anybody had seen some "strangers" at her home. She lived in the freaking middle of NOWHERE! Nosey assess.

It wasn't long before he began to hear heavy breathing coming from the bed. With a sigh he braced himself for the hell that was sure to begin. Another ten minutes passed and still nothing, just the constant panting. Kento leaned closer, cautious of a sudden blow. Mia's face was twisted in the pattern that was so familiar yet so alien. Rowen had once tried to identify the face but it had eluded him for weeks. He had finally backed off but it still bothered him. She was now panting as if she was running a marathon. In fact…. that is what it seemed to be exactly what she was doing. It sounded like she running and running hard from something. A moan escaped from her, it was a terrified sound, and it was a sound of absolute fear. Gut instincts told Kento to back off and go get help but another part told him to stay and help. How he was going to help he didn't know, but he stayed. Reaching out he took her hand and brushed the sweaty hair back from her forehead. For a long time she remained like that panting and sweating. Hours passed and still no violence.

Suddenly Mia threw a punch towards Kento, leaning back it missed him by inches, yet it seemed that she had connected with something. Then a new burst of excited breathing came from her. This was a more controlled breath. Like a fighters exact and excited breath, it was like she was fighting someone in her dream.

Listening Kento felt a strange sensation pass over him. Looking at her face and hearing what sounded like a harsh battle brought back memories. Odd ones too. Not the cookie cutter fights he had with Dais, all the same yet different. No these were of a specific battle, with another Warlord, His sanity lost and mind totally controlled by another. This reminded him of his fight with Anubis, and defeating him. Her face… that was what was so familiar! It looked like the face…. And her breathing pattern was the same… as Anubis's! That was how he learned to tell when he would strike, his breathing gave him away! And just like in that fight not so long ago Kento was able to tell when Mia would strike and when he needed to dodge.

A sudden scream ripped out of her throat. _Bloody Murder! That was a scream of BLOODY MURDER!_ Kento once thought he knew what those words meant; now he really knew. Violent and raw was the sound. Like a final battle cry before a devastating blow or the last sound a one makes before they are swallowed into death. Mia lunged towards him with the posture of holding something…_a sword?_ And then she collapsed into his arms, shaking and whimpering with primal fear. Holding her tight he waited for a struggle, but there was none. Then she collapsed totally no sound coming from her at all. _Is she okay? Did she win? Did she lose? If she lost does that meant she died in her dream? Wait, if you die in your dream you die here to right! No, No, No, No, No, NO! Don't be dead! NO! You can't be… NO! MIA! PLEASE!_

All of this and more passed through his mind in nanoseconds. Hands racing to check for life signs. Dimly he heard the others asking questions but his mind was totally on her. _Mia, please be okay_.


	6. No such thing as Peace

Disclaimer: Just borrowing, no keeping, promise.

A/N: Whew! That last one was a record for me! Yipes! Guess I better get on the ball and start typing! Glad you all like it. But I gotta say….who on earth ever said this is going to be a Mia/Anubis fic? Don't get me wrong, I Love that couple but geez…it could be a Mia? fic. Maybe it will be I don't know yet, just whatever the mood strikes me.

Purgatory 

Cyren screamed her rage. Never, Never, NEVER had she lost a guest. But even for one as old as she, never was a long time. And not only had she lost one, but she had lost three, one to the Mortal realm and the other two were, where else? The Dynasty. Ye Gods! She already knew which ones they were. No need to ask, Siam that murdering son of a bitch, Rinoa the wily bitch, she probably was the ringleader. And, of course her most treasured guest of all: Anubis.

She had lost count of how many centuries he had spent in her humble home, and here he was leaving with out even saying good-bye. Not even a 'Thank you for helping me see the error of my ways' just a dead guard, and one of her best, she noted. This calmed her down, if they had killed one of her best then more than likely they would be very hard to catch, so she had best calm down and begin to plan carefully, this was her first unauthorized release ever. She had best make sure that it was the last.

A grim smile appeared on her face. Yes indeed, when they were caught, she would make sure personally that they never left her home again.

Sitting on the edge of the porch Yulie looked up at the stars silently asking, begging someone, anyone to wake Mia up. She had been out cold since early this morning. Around two Yulie had shot up out of bed after he heard that scream. Running from his room he saw that the others had beat him there and were crowding around Kento asking a lot of questions. Kento never answered then, he was checking her pulse and looking very scared.

Now all of them were fighting. Kento finally said something and it had something to do with Anubis and then they called him a liar and then everything had turned into chaos. Something about her breathing last night. Yulie shook his head to clear it. He really didn't get what Kento was talking about but he knew he wasn't a liar. He believed in Justice way too much to lie about anything. Just like he could trust Cye for anything or any reason.

Out of nowhere he saw the Warlords come running up to the house. They must have got word about this somehow. Things were probably gonna get worse. Great. He felt the helpless rage well up inside of him again and though he fought them the tears fell anyways. He got up and began to run from that place. It wasn't home, not anymore. He ran to get away from the yelling and fighting. He just wanted to hit something, something smaller and weaker than he was. He always felt better when he made someone else hurt as bad as he did.

Cale's head was pounding, throbbing in time with the ticking clock that they called 'Grandfather.' For a moment he wondered if the old man Koji 's spirit was trapped within it. Or if the clock was just called that. Hell there was a lot of things he didn't get in this crazy Mortal Realm. Whatever happened to the world he left behind? Gods!

Opening his eyes to the scene in the dining room he surveyed the others. Still fighting. Sighing he waited a moment longer then taking a deep breath…

"**Will all of you shut up!"** Using his strongest voice, the same voice he used in battles to command troops and intimidate his foes, he finally heard silence. "Thank you." Was all he said with a sarcastic sneer. "Now that I have attention…Kento. You said you recognized the breathing patterns as Anubis's, correct? " The Ronin stiffened as if he were about to get in another fight but nodded his ascension.

"I believe you." Was the only reply from the former warlord. Shock was expressed by others as well as Kento. "Listen to me. All of you!" Quite once more. "I also identify my opponents by breathing patterns. I have to if I'm in a position were even if it is dark and they can't see **_I _**also may not be able to see them. I don't usually fight fair. And I don't usually like to fight in wide-open spaces. I fight in caves, small _crowded_ rooms, places that it is difficult to navigate when someone can see let alone when it is pitch black. I may be able to see in the dark but I have to keep an eye on where I'm going too. So in order to find my prey, I listen. And in listening I learn if they are scared, if they are ready for an attack, if they are wounded, or if they are ready to attack me. Each person has a different breathing pattern. Seems to me that Hardrock has learned the same skill. If so then I for one will not question him when he says that Mia is being possessed by the spirit of Anubis."

Stillness, silence greeted his words. Kento looked relieved. The others still looked doubtful, but he knew that his words went a long way in solving this pointless argument. Soon they would believe and they would be on their way to finding why this was happening instead. He walked out into the gathering night to clear his head, being all of that light did not help his pounding headache. Let the shadows chase away the unnecessary thoughts. Darkness had always soothed him, let it do so again.


	7. Encounter

Disclaimer: I wish!

A/N: I wanna ask the readers something, I have been trying to take a different view with each character that I write about. Nothing drastic just their personalities coloring the way I write the sections. Have I been hitting that or am I getting OOC? Kinda curious, I hope so. It's like putting on a pair of glasses and trying to see the situation through their eyes. Not easy. Please let me know! Simple 'yes', 'no' or 'your doing $!#' will suffice.

**Purgatory**

_Hush little baby don't say a word,_

_Mama's gonna buy you a mocking bird_

Running as fast as his feet could carry him Yulie ran from that terrifying voice. That woman was nuts! He had been sitting in the forest totally lost and afraid. Then she had appeared out of nowhere! When she saw him she burst into tears asking all kinds of questions, how he had survived without her for so long, did he remember her, did he still love her, then she called him her sweet baby! Like she was his mother! She had tried to hug and kiss him but when she got close he had clobbered her on her shin and ran for it. Night surrounded him as the once friendly forest now became a horrible maze.

_And if that mocking bird don't sing, _

_Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring_

_And if that diamond ring turns to brass,_

_Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass_

_Baaabeeee! My sweet babeee! Come back… come back to mama…I love you…I'm not mad, I know your surprised to see me…come give me a hug._

'LIKE HELL!' Yulie thought as he ran through some bushes. This lady was a good tracker, he had already ran through a couple of streams and down one for a ways trying to lose her. She just kept on coming! Lungs beginning to burn he just wanted to rest but if he could hear her that meant she was still close! 

_And if that looking glass gets broke,_

_Mama's gonna buy you a Billy Goat_

_And if that Billy Goat won't pull_

_Mama's gonna buy you a cart and bull_

_And if that cart and bull turn over,_

_Mama's gonna buy you a dog named Rover_

She was gonna drive him nuts with that singing! Why was she after him? _' Go away , go away, go away, go away, GO AWAY!' _he just wanted her to just leave him alone. He hadn't done anything wrong. What made her think she was his mother? He knew what his mom looked like and it wasn't her!

Turning to look behind him to see if see if she still followed was what did it, tripping over lose twigs and branches he fell down, hard. Scrambling fast to get up and away from her he mentally kicked himself for even looking. Didn't Mia once tell him to just run and not look back, that it was better to not know how close you were to death? So this time he ran and ran hard, not stopping to slow down over nasty looking rocks or through thick tree branches.

Yulie looked up in front of him, YES! It looked like the end of the forest. Maybe it was the house! Putting on a little bit more speed he raced towards the tree line. He hadn't heard her in awhile but that didn't mean she wasn't there. _'Keep moving, just keep going, your almost there!'_ It was like he could hear the Ronins, telling him to move.

Feet pounding the earth he burst through the tree line…and straight towards the edge of a sheer drop twenty-five to thirty feet down. Pin wheeling his arms to help keep his balance as he skidded to a halt close to the edge. The lose earth underneath shifted and fell down the side. No escape here, looking back towards the forest he felt his gut clench. There a little ways in, she stood. Brown pants, black tee shirt (it had a picture of a dragon wrapped around a skull on it he noticed dimly) black boots, and ragged trench coat. Her hair was brown and just hanging in tangled clumps, but nothing scared him as much as her eyes. It was night and she stood so far away he shouldn't be able to see them, _but he could_. Her eyes practically glowed in the faint moonlight. They were a brownish –yellow and they were wide open, staring at him. Frozen, he stood there waiting to see what she would do. For a very long time they stood staring at one another. She quietly began to sing again.

_And if that dog named Rover don't bark_

_Mama's gonna buy you a horse and cart_

She began to advance slowly out of the trees, her voice low and soft. Yulie felt his body tighten up with fear, his eyes following her every move. Her eyes were totally fixed on him, watching waiting to see what his next move would be.

_And if that hose and cart fall down_

_You'll still be the sweetest baby in all of town._

"Come here sweetie. It's me. It really is me, mommy. Ute…please honey. Remember? Remember our song? Ute...my little Ute. How you've grown!" She was whispering. She moved forward again faster this time, and this time he moved back. Back away from her forgetting the edge just behind him, until he felt himself sliding, slipping down. Landing hard on his stomach he felt his legs touching nothing but air and then he slid further over the edge.

"UTE!" Looking up as he fell he saw her reaching down to him as if she could reach and catch him. He felt himself hit then darkness swallowed him whole.


	8. Newest Player in the Game

Disclaimer: Okay, Okay, I admit it. I dream of owning all of the Ronins, running around my home in jeans. Warlords too. No shirts. But I don't so they can't and my bubble bursts again(sigh). Let me keep my dreams and twisted ideas, along with my very very very small paycheck. PLEASE?

**Purgatory**

Looking at her impassively, he wondered at her calm face. How can she be so calm when she has failed so greatly? Cyren stood before him waiting, her eyes flashing with impatience. She had come to him asking for help, needing assistance and advice as to how to solve her 'little problem' as she had put it.

Little problem, oh yeah , right.

Micah sighed. Somehow he knew this would come back on his head, but what was he to do? Defy the Creators own word? Never had he ever seen so much unrest in this of all places. Here in final peace, those who had been chosen to come here were, well, they were rebelling. Over one man. The same one, who if Cyren was to be believed, and he did believe her, slaughtered one of her guards and accompanied two others out of judgment.

Anubis. One name, one man, one huge problem. Problem consisting of the fact that it was by the Creators own will that he had been sent to purgatory. That the one known as the Ancient One was _questioning _this order, saying that when he had become the bearer of the Ancient staff he had been told that all he declared was as if it had come from the very mouth of the Heavenly One. That he had promised absolution to the sinner Anubis if he could meet all of the requirements. He did and even went above and beyond the call of duty. The Ancient One asked if his words and promises were so much hot air. That hadn't gone over well at all. Then the whole ancestral line of this holy tribe began demanding this man's release. The Creator refused. Now it seemed that this being had left from a divine place of judgment, without permission, and the Guardian of that place was standing here asking for help retrieving this man and his companions AND demanding that the only fitting punishment for these escapees was permanent residency in her realm.

And the Creator had agreed. Lovely. Just lovely.

Unlike others of his kind that did not feel human emotions, Micah was fully able to experience them. Right now he was feeling a little flippant and cynical. Irony colored his thoughts at the moment as he thought of how this was going 'hit the fan' as humans put it. If word got out that Anubis was free of his 'lessons' then there would be no doubt that some form of resistance to his recapture and subsequent imprisonment would occur by those who had sworn to follow the Creators every order. But if he didn't pass on the word then when the time came for Anubis's release and he was not allowed to leave there really would be…(he smirked at the thought) hell to pay.

Cyren cleared her throat catching his wandering attention. Once again studying her Micah thoughts centered on his main object right now: getting the three escapees back. Mentally choosing the hunters he nodded to her. Beckoning with his hand he turned to go somewhere more suitable to discuss their plans. '_No, when this gets out, circumstances will really become difficult, for a lot of things, let alone to hunt. Best to keep it quite for now, until I can speak with the Father in person. Time really is running out.' _

A/N: YIPES! Even the Almighty One thinks Anubis was rather nasty. What next? Mia turn bad? Is Yulie dead? (nope, sorry, Yulie haters, not going to die in this fic. By the way why do you hate him so badly? He's a little KID! Yeah, he's annoyinog, useless brat, but he's A KID! Sheesh. Opps, sorry, getting of my soap box now.) And what pray tell, will Kyra think of all of this? Or the Other Warlords? Not a comforting thought for them, eh? Stay tuned! Who knows what I will do next.

Something else to chew on. Everything happens for a reason.


	9. Daylight

Disclaimer: Ditto as before. I just love to abuse innocent characters. NOT MINE!

Purgatory

Floating upwards, towards the lights. But right now those lights were bad they were hurting him. Pain came from those lights, so he tried to sink back into darkness. Back into the comforting cold. Cold? He was cold in the dark? It felt good earlier…or did he just not know that he was cold before he got to the lights? It didn't matter; he was being pushed up towards the lights. _**'It's okay sweetie…trust me … you need to wake up… Yulie sweetie please, you may not like what is going on but for you to get better you MUST wake up.'**_

'_Mommy?'_ Was that mommy that he had just heard? But there was no time to dwell on that, lights were close and he was feeling a lot of pain. His lungs felt like they were on fire. Lungs? If he had lungs then he needed to breathe. He fought to take a breath but each try hurt so badly. He felt himself slipping back into the darkness…but then he thought of Ryo. Ryo would NEVER give up on something he could control, if he could still breathe then he would breathe. So if Yulie could breathe then he better try just like Ryo! Once again he tried to draw air into his body, this time succeeding, but it hurt so badly. He tried to think of all the times the guys had been hurt and they kept on fighting. This was **_his_** first fight and he wasn't going to lose.

Another breath, then release, another, now release, another breath, deeper this time, hold it now release. Breathe. In and then out. In and out. '_That's right, keep it up Yules, it not as bad as when you started. One breath in, then let it out.' _Dimly he could feel something cool on his forehead, he then realized that he was really hot. He could also feel his right arm, it was so sore. His legs hurt bad and one really really hurt. His head felt muzzy and full of cotton. But it was slowly clearing like fog in the morning light. Speaking of morning…

Yulie opened his eyes to see a beautiful blue sky above him, the sun shining down on his face. Safe, he felt safe now in the light. Where were the guys? Probably out looking for that crazy lady. Mia was taking good care of him as usual, even though he didn't deserve it. He had run away, like a little kid! Run away and now look at him! Hurt, dirty, and tired. He started to relax back into sleep; he would apologize later after he slept for a little…

"Ute?" His eyes shot open, there above him looking down was the lady and in the suddenly terrifying light she looked even scarier. "My baby… your okay!" She leaned down to gently hug him as he realized that he wasn't safe yet. Not by a long shot.

Beautiful and elegant was the night. How gracefully it gave up in the fight against the dawn. He watched as the shadows slowly receded, backing away allowing the light to bring a stark contrast throughout the forest. Where once everything was softened and delicate in the night, daylight brought sudden realization to a watchers eye of the stout bulky forms and large imperfections of the world. Imperfections. Just like the scar on his face, now visible for the whole world to see and judge him by.

Sitting in the lee of a rock, Cale watched the dawn arrive. It was like watching on old friend leave and new once tentatively arrive. For so long he had viewed the daylight as an enemy, but now, now it seemed to be more of a friend. He still had trouble in the heat of the day but he was managing. Dawn now held no threat to him. After leaving yesterday evening he had been unable to convince himself to go back to that noisy brightly lit place. Noise and light just seemed to go together like a hand and a glove. He had wandered this new forest with interest. So many new things to see, there had been many new paths to explore. The lake itself had held many wonderful secrets within its dark depths.

On that thought had Torrent explored the underwater lake as thoroughly as he had? Surely he must have, but as deep as it had gone it would have been dark as any underground cave, even in the middle of the day. If Torrent had explored it thoroughly, as he must have, then he may have an affinity for darkness. This might explain the lack of real fear when Cale had confronted him alone in the Dynasty.

Perhaps he had been a little harsh on the smaller man. Perhaps he might be able to start an actual friendship with him. He snorted at that thought, him, friends? With anyone? Not likely. But still he needed to try. He couldn't ignore the Mortal Realm forever. He was going to need someone to teach him how to survive in this world. And he would be DAMNED if he was going to ask Halo. Or he could ask that little blue-eyed tart to 'assist' him in 'learning' things in this world. A small smirk appeared on his face at that delicious little thought. He definitely could eat her alive and if the glances that she gave him were on the same track as he thought they were, she may not try to stop him.

At that thought a nice heat began to course through his veins. Warm enough that he felt a little walk in the forest may be warranted. After four centuries Cale had a well-developed imagination and was entertaining his twisted little mind with everything he could do to get the little vixen in his bed when he heard a shout. It was a distant way off but to his sensitive ears it had a ring of fear to it. Picking up the pace he started in the direction of the sound. Something was not right, not right at all.

Pottery jars were sent flying across the room smashing on the far wall. A stool was sent milliseconds later into the same wall. Sekhmet stood in the doorway passively watching Kyra in her fit of unladylike temper. Tilting his head he was able to hear her rather colorful curses fly from her beautiful lips. It amused him to see this girl-child monk spewing curses that would make even Cale blush, but he understood her source of fury. These last days have been anything but normal.

It had started with the Koji girl, and then continued with the disappearance of the boy Yulie and Cale. Continued when late last evening when she had been summoned back to the Dynasty about Sprits causing major trouble. Then finding out that four whole villages had been massacred and some of the unfortunates were partially eaten. And not only that but the next Realm had refused to answer her calls and pleas for help, guidance, advice, even a freakin' recording! Anything!

Even Sekhmet had tried to contact his Temple priests, still no word from them yet. It was odd, it was as if everything that was spiritual had just up and vanished, but that was not the case. For the specters of this Realm still existed, they performed their duties created their magic's they had continued to exist. What had caused the sudden silence? It unnerved him a little to think that they had been abandoned by the higher powers.

A louder crash brought Sekhmet back to reality. He was as close to sanity now as he may ever get and seeing Kyra turn on him with a furious glint to her eyes caused him to rethink his normal 'fight till someone drops' attitude. Reconsider, yes, but not change. Calmly he waited to see if she would strike or stay. She stayed; perhaps she saw the need in his eyes, the need for an all out intense, pointless fight.

Her heavy breathing displayed her aggravation and he couldn't help but get a sly dig in."Kyra, dearest, please settle down, we don't want unwanted rumors starting about you and I. Especially those that say how much more endurance I have than you. Seeing as how you're panting from your exertions and all."

When all he got in reply was a mumbled answer his concern went up a notch. As the saying goes, old habits are hard to break and after the defeat of Talpa the former Warlords all had continued their constant bickering, if a little more respectful than before. It was not unusual for all of them to bicker daily and numerous times a day. Kyra was also included in this ritual; though she was now the newest bearer of the Ancient Staff she still needed the feeling that something was still the same. If she was too preoccupied to throw out even a half-hearted insult then something was not right.

For one moment Sekhmet had total and complete clarity. Sanity had a grip on his mind and he wished reverently that it would go away. No, sanity was not something he wanted right now. Something was not right, not right within the spiritual Realm and he knew within his soul nothing was right at all.

A/N: Crap is starting to hit the fan! Lookout! Rating may go up soon. Depends on how theses next few chapters come out. Sorry about any grammatical errors popping up, when I'm uploading, things just really don't go my way.


	10. Discovery

Disclaimer: Nope, I checked. Bank account still very small, so I guess I still don't own it.

A/N: I've upped the rating. Be warned! If you don't like nasty stuff don't read! If you can't handle it, DO NOT READ!

Purgatory

Blood lay everywhere. Dried and crusted it was on the walls of the huts, rooftops, in the streets. The flies were thick, maggots crawling out of the dead in massive clumps. Crows and raven flying overhead, their cries seeming triumphant at this feast. The bodies themselves seemed to be arranged in some sick dance. Arms wrapped around others in embraces of what might be carnal pleasure. Some those were inside or around the huts were posed in what appeared to be daily life. Women cooking, men at the wood block, children playing with dolls and toys. But the pots held body parts such as eyes, hands, and hearts. On the wood block were heads to be chopped in half; to the side were heads that had already been cleaved in two. Children appeared to play with human bones, and dolls covered in blood.

At the end of the street, a man sat dining out of a young woman's stomach. An unborn child partially hanging out of his mouth. Its head hanging out looking out at the world with its dead eyes. This sight caused Dais to turn away. He had been searching the village for anything. Survivors, weapons, clues as to who had done this, anything that gave him an idea about what had happened here. This sight made his stomach turn. He had seen a lot of nasty things in his long life but this was possibly the worst.

After the last village even his soldiers refused to enter this one. The previous three villages had been progressively worse. He had gone in alone leaving his mount at the edge of a pasture. Now he wished he had never set foot in this place. Yet he must continue, this was a large village and there was more to examine. He had to see what else might be within these walls.

He continued on, numbing himself to the sight of blood and gore. Yet when he came to the village square he was shaken to his core. This time unable to look away he stared. Corpses lay piled in a heap in the center, but their condition! Some clearly had been gnawed on by what appeared to be human teeth. Others had been skinned and stripped of their meat. Some had been cut into pieces, the less desirable ones thrown to the side. Eyes, hands, feet, hearts, livers, others body parts lay where they had been thrown. At the top of the pile embedded into one body was a spear, but the opposite end was also tipped. Skewered on this end was the body of a small infant, it's arms and legs dangling down, it's blood coating the spear shaft

But it wasn't that gory sight that held his gaze. It was the spear. It was a spear he was very familiar with, one that had been part of the Dynasty's marching army. At the base of the actual spear was the same symbol that he had seen numerous of times. It was the symbol of Oni Masho. The Dark Warlord of Cruelty. It was Anubis's personal insignia.


	11. Sympathy and safety

Disclaimer: If only. Not mine though.

A/N: Okay, thank you all so much for the reviews. It is nice knowing that even an amateur writer such as myself can get that many good compliments about my tale. I hope you all continue to like it. This story just seems to want to be written and it also has a mind of it's own. Nothing I start to write ever works out that way. This whole story was going to be a one shot. Yeah, right. Enjoy!

Purgatory

Cale was lying down on the edge of the cliff, looking down on the camp below. Natural instincts told him to remain hidden and it looked like he was very smart to follow them. That woman below seemed to be very unstable. Yulie though was a wreck. The poor kid's leg was in a rather rough splint, his chest was wrapped poorly and his left arm…it may not be salvageable. From the blood dried on his head he may also have a concussion. Dried blood on his lips told of possible internal injuries.

From the evidence on the trail it seemed that the boy had been running full tilt for a long time. Signs on the ledge told of a sudden stop, and then how he had apparently turned and backed up. Up to the edge and then he slipped and fell, landing on a large outcropping of very unforgiving rock. Blood on said rocks told of how he had been moved with very little care and much haste. Dragged over to the small flat space to the side.

_'Idiot! If he had broken his back or a blood clot in one of those injuries he could have died from being handled like that! As it stands, I'll bet money that the poor kid has at least two broke ribs and when the bitch tugged and dragged him like that one or both punctured a lung.'_

Seeing that Yulie was conscious and alert Cale's opinion of the boy rose considerably. It was hard to stay conscious when one wasn't used to pain. Not only was he awake he was talking to the woman, asking her to let him go, but she seemed bound and determined to keep him. Even when he threatened that the Ronins would come after her she just laughed in a strange way saying she would like to see someone try to take her son. Son? If that was the boy's mother then why the hell….? Never mind, he just needed to get the kid away from her as soon as possible. She was obviously hurting him more than she was helping. Mother or not.

Wishing heartily that it were night when he had the dark to use as his cover, he debated on whether the boy could last till at least this evening. A sharp cry and whimper in the next moments changed his mind. The fucking bitch was apparently taking it on herself to set his leg! Pulling and wrenching on his abused appendage all the while she sat on his stomach. That sight in itself sent sympathy pains running through his body. Enough is enough.

He slowly backed away from the edge of the bluff, when he was well away he stood looking for a way down. Finding a path to west he made his way cautiously down and through the forest towards the camp. Yulie appeared to be unconscious, not really surprising seeing that he was probably in a hell of a lot of pain. The bitch was no longer sitting on him or trying to set his leg. She had rewrapped it and was now singing softly to the boy, it was almost touching if not for the blood on his face and her hands.

One step out, two, silent as a shadow Cale crept up behind her, on blow to the head and she would be out cold and out of the way. Directly behind her now, arm raised and fell with total silence yet somehow she realized he was there and ducked out of the way brandishing a knife in defense. With startling accuracy she slashed his forearm open as she ducked. Backing away from him he realized that she was as wild as a fucking rabid animal. Falling into defensive position he held himself ready for attack, her breathing telling of fear and anger. In fact her eyes glowed with fierce hatred and fury, her body posture of one defending something. As he analyzed her stance something screamed for attention in the back of his mind. Dismissing it as unimportant, since he hadn't done it or noted it immediately. Details were not important right now.

She was skilled with the knife but got no more strikes in. A few light blows and she fell to the earth, whimpering away like a child. Suddenly getting up and racing to the forest she sought shelter in its dark embrace. Cale began to chase after his prey when he realized that he needed to get the boy to safety first. He would hunt the bitch down later.

Turning he went to Yulie, who was lying still as a stone. Immediately Cale checked for a pulse, faint but it was still there! Quickly he checked over the boy's injuries. As he had suspected Yulie had a concussion as well as two broke ribs. Checking the boy's fingernails he saw that they were an unhealthy shade of gray, a telltale sign of internal injury. The arm was in better condition than he had thought but the leg was not in good shape. All of that pulling a wrenching the bitch had done no good. It was going to have to be set right and best set now. Quietly apologizing to the unconscious boy Cale quickly unwrapped the leg. After a quick examination of the break he took hold of the leg and one swift twist he heard a satisfying **_snap!_** and the bone now had a much cleaner break. The boy did not even wince in his pain-induced unconsciousness. This time he was much more gentle with the leg as he set it properly.

Now it was time to go about making a way to carry the boy out of there. Cutting down to sturdy saplings Cale set to making a stretcher when suddenly he felt an incredible burning sensation in his back between the neck and the right shoulder. Turning slightly he saw the bitch's golden eyes aflame with furious satisfaction. The mother-fucking bitch had snuck up from behind and stabbed him! Suddenly what had been in the back of his mind earlier now came to the fore. He had not put on his armor! Not even his sub-armor!

With a scream she forced the knife in deeper, burying it hilt deep into the muscle tissue. Furious at himself suddenly for being a fool and at her, he mentally called for his full armor. Suddenly standing tall he dislodged her from his back, knife still buried deep into his tissue. Whirling around to face her with near inhuman speed he slammed his clawed left hand into her body, aiming straight for the bitch's heart. Wrenching his hand back his gaze piercing and snarled wordlessly down at her.

Backing away from him she had her hands over the wound, then in disbelief she looked down at it. Cale found his own gaze drawn to the wound, for no blood poured forth, it was merely a hole in her body. Still she stood, then looking up suddenly at him she screamed a high shrill sound and ran from the glade.

Standing still as if he had been stuck by lightning he gazed after her. Then looking down at his claws he saw no blood, a little flesh maybe but no blood. Shaking these thoughts from him he knew he must address other things first. Like his own wound. Banishing his outer armor, leaving his sub armor on he reached up and grasped the hilt of the knife and with one swift pull is was removed. Unfortunately it was of course a serrated knife. Ridges ripping his skin and muscle even more. Falling to his knees he searched for something to staunch the blood. Once he had bandaged himself he resolved to get both Yulie and himself out of this forest fast.

After he had finished the stretcher and was about to slide the boy onto it, a crashing noise alerted him to prepare for another visitor. The figure the came from the forest was not the woman but that of White Blaze. Ryo's pet tiger. The great cat looked at the scene before him. Without any stupid remarks Cale nodded to the beast in welcome. " If you're willing to wear a harness you can bear part of his weight. We need to get this boy some help fast." The cat nodded and soon they were off. From deeper in the forest a pair of yellow eyes watched with fury.

A/N: Sorry but I have never seen Cale as a really nice person. Always a direct and blunt person in my mind, not to mention he probably the least refined of all the Warlords (once again, my opinion.) He's a get it done and done now type of guy. And definitely not the type to come up with lame statements like "Boy am I glad you're here!"


	12. Watcher

Disclaimer: NOT MINE!

Purgatory

Darklight

The air felt wonderful, sun shining down on her upturned face. But her features were far from peaceful. Her mind was a thousand miles away; it was in a world far from here, one where pain, jealousy, war, hate, and other vile things still existed. It was on a little boy who was in an extreme amount of pain. No, she did not feel the peace and tranquility of this world, even if she did it was a lie. There was no peace here, she was no powerful mage or important holy being, but she knew. She knew what was going on. She was a normal woman, and one who had until not that long ago was a happy mother, a secretary to a rather important man, an educated woman. One who put importance on sensible things, like the meeting with the American businessmen for the company's products, things like her son's play which he had a bit part that was in a few weeks, like her husband's birthday in a couple of days. She worried over simple stuff: Her blood pressure, the family reunion that she was planning, the cost of the electric bill, what to fix for dinner, her son running off with that skateboard of his.

No, she never worried about the impossible, but she should have. She closed her eyes, thinking about that day. Her last day. It was a nice day; they were in town for a little shopping and fun. Yulie wanted that skateboard and how could she say no? He had worked so hard to pull up his grades; he had always struggled with school. Then he took it and ran to try it out, forgetting that they were in a very large city, one that she could lose him so easily. And she had lost him.

Memory flashed images of that day in her head. Searching the streets, the way everything just seemed to stop, the screams then the silence. She remembered her husband grabbing her arm and then they were running, around a corner of a building. Fear of the improbable building in her, terror at the sight of something out of the past, warriors, soldiers grabbing innocent people and herding them into…. someplace.

She remembered backing away, worried about her son. She had lost him before all of this had started, was he still free? It was this fear for his safety that made her see things that weren't there. She thought she saw her little boy being hauled into that dark place and she was running to help him. But a hard hand, one that spun her around to face her attacker, stopped her. At first she could not make any sense of what she saw, her mind refusing to compute the information her eyes were sending it. When she finally focused on the being before her what she saw shocked her. A man in a bright armor, it was a magenta color, and it had six weapons sticking out of the back, reminding her of a spider. His voice penetrated her shocked mind and she would never forget his words.

"My dear woman, you would not like to go in that direction. For my master has declared all who are useful to him be brought to his realm. You would be very useful and I would hate to see what would happen to you if you entered his realm through **_that_** portal. That portal leads to the Nether Spirits sanctuary and only those who they chose can enter there. Your death would not be pretty." The whole time she had stared into his face, if that was what she could call it. All she could see was an eye, a blue eye. He struck her as human, not some demented demon yet he was obviously one of them. His words were courteous yet the tone was mocking.

Her next memory was jumbled as everything happened at once. Her husband shouting and rushing the armored man, being shoved backwards out of the way, looking up from the ground to see a soldier gutting her husband, the man in armor yelling in rage at the soldier, then a shadow over her form and looking up in to the face of another one of the soldiers. Looking up at the sword he held over his head, the glint of steel as it arced down towards her, then nothing, nothing but death.

And she had lost him, her son; she had looked on this side for him, but was told that he had survived, as had many others. She was also told that the strange beings that had taken over the city had been defeated permanently. Yet she was not allowed to watch, to guide her son through his life. She had lost him.

Yulie had a stubborn streak in him, one that went hand in hand with his innate courage. This was no fluke for he shared that same trait with his mother. Long ago his father gave up trying to change her and he had resigned himself to the fact that his son was just like his mother in that regard. That same stubborn streak had allowed her to find a way to watch. And what she had seen had stunned her.

Now it was time, time to tell all of what she had seen. She was not the type of woman to see a wrong committed and do nothing about it. No, she was going to do something that could potentially get her in a lot of hot water. But God help her if she was just going to stand there and watch.


	13. Hunting

A/N: Thanks to those who send their support on this. Sorry it took so long on the last chapter, I had a really bad case of writers block. Not really, I had an idea of what I wanted to do but there were a few scenes that I had to write in order to do what was playing around in my head. Kind of 'how to get there' type deal, ya know?

Disclaimer: Have ya gotten the hint yet? I DON'T OWN THEM! JUST PLAYING! (Sigh)

Purgatory

Darklight

Rinoa walked the forest again, looking for her boy, hoping he would come back to her. Part of her knew he was gone, that she had been too harsh with him. That he was being cared for by someone else. That idea made her seethe. Someone other than her touching her baby, impossible! With a furious scream she flung her knife at a random tree, it embedded itself hilt deep in the wood.

That part within her that spoke common sense called out for her to calm down, to call on the ritual to bring her other side out so she could think clearly on how to help her boy. Yes, the ritual, it would calm her raging mind down. Soothe the demon on the outside and bring the cool, calm creature out of her subconscious. But to do that she would need blood…and lots of it. Blood? Ha that was easy to get. With a wicked smile she turned to the tree and pulled the knife out. She was in a forest; it had to be some type of hunting season. Yes it was time to hunt the hunters.

Hours later Micah stepped into the same clearing where Rinoa had been. The soul scent lead here but the spirit hounds had been led off track. It would seem that Rinoa had performed another ritual and had absorbed another soul. Blood on the forest floor attested to that fact. What was left of the body was hanging in a tree in a position of crucifixion. She had cut the heart out of the man and had obviously drunk his blood.

Micah hated chasing soul stealers; they always could change their soul scent to blend with the newly acquired soul. Thus confusing the trail. He sighed as he looked on at the body. Cyren stepped up beside him with a snort, her eyes disdainfully scanning the area. Taking in the body last. Again she snorted, "Don't be to sorry for the man, he was screwing his son's girlfriend, stealing money from his company, and had his wife disappear because she found out. He'd be in my realm for a while, if his soul hadn't been absorbed that is."

Cyren looked around again, "Definitely Rinny's work. Serrated knife to increase the pain, slow blood letting to catch what she could to drink, looks like she was taking her time. She cut of the lesser appendages first as well as the nose, ears, and eyes…ah yes the tongue too. Then began cutting off other pieces such as hands, calves, forearms… interesting… she left the penis intact but mutilated the balls and anus. She must have needed to calm down her inner demons pretty badly. Can we catch her new scent?"

Micah shrugged, the hounds were working on it but if she had left the glade while in the midst of the change it could take a while before they found the new scent. He walked over to a tree and plopped down on the forest floor, he would have to wait. They could only go after Rinoa at the moment, being that the Dynasty was closed off to them for a while. Siam and Anubis would enjoy their freedom for a little bit longer. For when the Dynasty opened up to them Micah would be on them like an avenging angel, he would personally make sure this Anubis would be made sorry for causing all of this trouble. Siam was inconsequential. Micah wanted the Warlord, and then when he had this fugitive he would make sure that Anubis understood that giving a dark angel a headache was a very bad thing indeed.

Jonathan sat back against the tree to catch a nap his stomach was so full. He had just had the best dinner in a long time. That had been some buffet! Wow! Too bad his wife and kids hadn't been there! They would have loved it!

He sighed wishing heartily that he were with them that he could cook for them again. He loved cooking his special venison meals. The spices and flavors had always worked their magic on his family. They loved the taste and his little girl had been begging him for a while to let her help, she wanted to not only help with the cooking but the hunting as well! He smiled at the memory of explaining to her how he had to clean his kill after he had brought it down. She had only laughed and said that it was only blood. Seems that she had a bit of her father in her after all!

He sighed again and looked up into the perfect sky, day dreaming about his next hunt when he heard a grunt to the left. Turning he faced his companion, not much of a man really more like a boy. His hair was wild after the last hunt and he had yet to fix it. He hadn't eaten much after the first bites, seems he didn't like the meat. Not to mention he was absolutely not the best for intelligent conversation. But beggars can't be choosers; after all this kid was the reason the hunt went so well. That kid could FIGHT!

And if there was anything to be certain about Jonathan David Siam was not about to cross his partner. The way he had cleaved the village guard in two had impressed that upon Siam that caution was the better part of wisdom. He smiled at the memory of all that delicious meat piled up in the center just waiting to be harvested.

His companion was still sulking because he had lost his stick at the last village, had been rather attached to it actually. But what did he really expect from this kid? He was just a wild animal, no ability to talk what so ever, no thoughts in his head other than survival. What ever Cyren had done to this kid it had driven him so insane that he was just a shell of a being. More like a walking cave man. She had well and truly broken the boy.

He didn't trust Siam, that was obvious but he stuck with the older man because he took care of his wounds and fed him, making sure to find shelter for the two of them. Siam felt a little like a father again. He sighed as he slowly moved closer to the kid, he really needed a bath! Not very civilized was he? Oh well, time to start cleaning him up.


	14. Awakenings

A/N: I love reviews! I love reviews! Please review! Tell me what you think! Seeing that people actually read this is nice, especially to my ego! Thanks!

Disclaimer: Characters within in this tale are fictional and their respective rights go to their owners. I do not own any or claim to own of them. (With the exceptions of the few OC's in here but those are so screwy that nobody else will claim them so why not me?) I'm not making any money off of this tale, just the occasional migraine. Layman's terms: PLEASE DON'T SUE!

Purgatory

Darklight13

Cye sat by Yulie's bed waiting for the boy to wake up. He had a fever last night and Sage had sat with him feeding healing energy into him throughout the late hours. Sage was now currently comatose and recovering his energy. Now Cye sat with the young man waiting on his eminent awakening. He was musing on what had occurred these last few days. Cale had been incredibly pissed off when he had finally found them. They had at Kyra's request gathered up an unconscious Mia and all had come to the Dynasty where they had revived her.

It had actually worked and she had woken up a few times for a short time before collapsing back into sleep. Each time she had awoken it was for a longer period of time. But unfortunately they had left before either Cale or Yulie could be found. White Blaze and Rowen had gone out to find them. The tiger had found Cale and Yulie and brought them to Rowen who had promptly brought them to the Dynasty. Cale had pitched a fit when he found out. Saying that he could have been found a hell of a lot sooner and the boy helped a lot quicker if they had just used the sprits to find him.

Kyra had shot back that the specters were no longer responding to her orders and that she and Sekmeht had a hell of a lot more to do than keep tabs on one wandering warlord. The ensuing argument had lasted for hours.

Cye pinched the bridge of his nose. His thoughts about what had happened were in truth not important. What was important was that this little boy wake up and then he could begin a mental healing process with the boy. Cye reverently hoped the boy would forgive them for leaving, they in all honesty were more worried about Mia at the time rather a little boy who had run off into the night in a fit of temper.

'_Priorities need to be in line old chum. Not just on one person, Yulie looks up to all of us and what did we do? We left him in that forest by himself!' _Cye would blatantly state that he was at fault for just letting the boy go, he should have been keeping an eye on him rather than argue with Kento like that. Then when he had noticed him gone he was too busy to worry about the young man. Right now Cye felt about three inches high and getting shorter.

Pinching the bridge of his nose again he gave another sigh. "Don't beat yourself up, Cye. I really do understand." The said teen's head shot up and looked at the boy in the massive bed. He was awake and giving a weak smile. A relived laugh/sob came from his lips as he moved over to sit on the bed. He reached down as gently as he could and he hugged Yulie. Guilt just as quickly washed away his relief and he double-checked the wounds to see if the boy was okay. Yulie protested the babying but a few quick words from Cye hushed him. Seeing that he would live Cye sat back and gave a shaky smile.

"Don't worry about it I said. I understand. I ran off and I knew better. I'm sorry." Yulie said quietly almost in answer to Cye's mental guilt. Blinking Cye nodded mostly to humor the boy but Yulie would have none of it. "Cye, listen don't you even think about just going along with this like I'm not at fault! YOU DID NOTHING WRONG!" His speech was cut short by a fit of coughing that produced a bit of blood. At that point Cye had had enough.

'**_SAGE! Get over here now! Yulie's awake and I've riled him a bit. He's coughing blood up!'_** was the mental shout Cye gave along the Ronins link. On that same link he felt the others stir and start towards the room.**_ 'Sage!'_**

'**_I'm on my way!'_** was the answering sleepy reply. Once again Cye felt a massive amount of guilt. Here he was getting Yulie all in a tither and Sage was in no condition to really help and…

"Cye stop it!" Yulie managed to get out before another wave of coughing hit. He had his hands covering his head and ears, like he was getting a huge headache or hearing an incredible loud noise. Cye stepped closer to the boy thinking that there was something wrong with his head, after all he had a nasty fall and the resulting concussion may be producing side affects. Another wave of guilt and worry washed over him.

Ryo rushed in looking at the scene in the room, Cye was bent over Yulie obviously trying to help him and the boy was weakly pushing him away, telling him to stop and was coughing bad. Moving over to the bed Ryo caught Yulie by the cuff of his shirt and gently pulled him back down to the bed. He relaxed immediately into Ryo's touch, coughing still but calming down. Cye reached out and touched his forehead checking for a temperature. Once again it sent the boy into another crying / coughing fit. yelling at Cye to get away, to stop, stop it. Confused, Ryo looked up into his friends face for an idea as to what was going on Cye had backed away and was looking hurt and confused.

Sage rushed in and went immediately over to the bed, hands out touching the young man's chest; healing energy flowing from him. Sekmeht was right behind him with healing herbs and potions. He immediately began making an herbal tea. Yulie was still begging Cye to stop it, to go away and just stop it. Sage turned to his friend and quietly asked the auburn haired man to leave.

With a nod the bearer of Torrent stepped outside the room, pushing past the others in his hurry. His mind was a whirl of confusion hurt and guilt. He pushed past Dais and Cale in the hall and headed towards one room where he might find peace.

Walking in Mia's room he found her awake and confused. "Cye…. What's going on? Dais just jumped up and ran out of here like demons were on his tail."

"Yulie is awake and coughing up blood. I was there…he …I…kept getting him …upset. I don't really know how…. he just…. really ….I must have…" Cye felt tears well up in his eyes as he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt and helplessness. Sitting down on Mia's bed he cradled his head in his hands. The emotions of the last few days finally catching up with him. All of the worry, guilt he had shouldered plus all of the emotions the others had been projecting outwards that he had been recieving and enduring. Almost every negative emotion that a person could experience was washing over him from his friends. Normally he would just stiffen the upper lip and go on but here in the realm it seemed like his receptors were on high. Times like this were ones that he despised being empathic. He was so damn vulnerable!

Warm arms went around his form from behind and he relaxed into the soothing feelings coming from the body behinde him. Calm and tranquility eased his raw emotions momentarily. With a violent surge he felt all of his pent up emotions gather once more. Twisting he reached for Mia's form and pulled her closer to him. Screw propriety! Right now having her in his arms, pressed up against him felt like heaven.

Mia had seen Cye get upset before, usually after he sensed something particularly nasty going on, but this was the worst. He was shaking and crying and gripping at his head, the sight pulled her up out of her little nest and she crawled over to him. Wrapping her arms around him, making shushing noises she tried to calm the young man. When he had stiffened she had thought that she had pushed too hard, that the proper young man had taken offense to her gesture. When he had turned and grabbed her it had been so fast that she did not realize what had happened until she was sitting…more like straddling his lap and he had pulled her flush against him. Head buried in her neck and hair she felt his sobs more than heard them. Reaching up she rubbed his back and ran her fingers through his hair. She thought of an instance not so long ago when she was in his arms crying her eyes out, he had been the one calming her.

It seemed like ages but Mia felt him begin to relax. In all honesty she had no real idea what he was going through. He had once mentioned that he was gifted, but it had caused the others to be a bit uncomfortable finding that their emotions were out in the open for him to just pick up. Afterwards he had reassured that it was only intense emotions that he could pick up and he usually tended to block them anyways. She had cornered Cye later and asked all manner of questions, she wanted to know more about his abilities. He had laughed he questions off and said that she just best be glad that she didn't have the same curse, that some things weren't worth knowing. Now she understood his words, he really did have a gift and curse, one that was hard to deal with.

Turning his head to the side Cye took in his first unrestricted breath in a while. Slowly coming out of his emotion induced haze he began to become aware of the real world again. Like honeysuckle, he smelled honeysuckle…? Opening his eyes he realized that he still held Mia in a rather compromising position, with one arm wrapped tightly around her waist and the other keeping her pressed flat against his chest. With a blush he pulled back from her only to be caught in her arms, being pulled back to their previous position. He tried to argue but she hushed him and finally he relaxed, dropping his head on her shoulder again. In all honesty he needed this.

Wrapping his arms loosely around her waist her he allowed the emotions he had felt in the last few days, months really, ride away on the waves of the soothing sensations that flowed off of her like tides of the oceans. Right now he needed to forget everything, she was his angel pulling him out of the storm.

In the back of his mind, deep within his subconscious, something stirred. Like a premonition he knew that he had best rest up, else the storm before him may sweep him out into the dark waters of his mind. Dark emotions rode on the winds in the Dynasty, and he was especially vulnerable to all of them. He needed to shore up his defenses, an angel may not always stand so close by.

Deep within the room shadows stirred and became still. Whether it was a draft that caused the candles to waver or something else neither noticed nor cared.

A/n: sorry 'bout all the refrences to th sea but it was to tempting!


	15. Trial

A/N: Flame me. Someone flame me. I need to be pissed off. Yipes, things just keep changing in this crazy head of mine. Enjoy the wackiness!

Disclaimer: (sigh) not mine okay?

Purgatory

Darklight13

Sitting in the Dark Spirits Chamber of Blood watching the drama was rather intriguing. One of many halls and rooms in the palace, the Warlords were rather used to the size and opulence of the entire area, but the Ronins on the other hand had been duly impressed. Though granted they had hidden that awe very well, it had taken a practiced eye to see the subtle changes in their attitudes. Well, subtle in all respects but Hardrock's, he had stopped stunned just inside the doorway, mouth agape and staring.

Granted, the room was a bit…overdone. Red was everywhere, the same red as Wildfire's armor. The chairs and benches were covered in shiny red cloth; the wood on the furniture was painted just a slight shade darker than the cloth. The same shiny cloth covered the walls and ceiling. Red painted wood beams…flying buttresses, yes that was the word…stuck out of the walls until they reached the ceiling were they curved inwards into the room giving a caged feeling to one who stepped inside. The floor was covered in red tile, gleaming so brightly as to look wet. The table was a dark mahogany color; the red tones were very pronounced in this room, yet untouched by paint. Though the tabletop was laid with…what else? Blood red marble, veins of a darker red traced there way though the slab. The table was large enough to seat at least thirty to forty spaciously, fifty to sixty cramped, yet the marble was all one single slab. From beginning to end, nothing interrupted the beautiful stone.

No pictures or paintings or murals adorned the walls, there weren't any rugs or tapestries on the floor or ceiling. No windows or exits but the doors that they had come through, which were, of course, red. Nothing. No carvings, no statues, no shelves, even the candelabra were worked metal that had been painted red, and the candles were hidden behind shades that were red. Red, red, red and more red. Hence, when Cale had stepped into the room for the first time centuries ago he had called it the Red Hall. And it stuck.

"It looks like the inside of the belly of a huge monster!" Kento had exclaimed. Rowen had whirled on him. "Do ya mind! After we get well into the room you had to come up with something like that?" the look of disgusted horror on his face had been mimicked by the other Ronin's. The other teen had merely shrugged with his hands upraised. As if he had not been able to help himself. Cale had laughed at the notion and had continued to smile/sneer at the Ronin's, while Dais's reaction…had never materialized. Normally he would have chuckled softly at the astute comment of his former nemesis and smiled at the uneasy younger men. Dais was far from normal Sekmeht had noted. Indeed he had walked into the room a sat down in a chair, rather withdrawn from the others. Kyra had yet to notice and if Cale had he gave no sign. Sekmeht resolved to watch his comrade to see if he did or said anything to give a clue as to what his thoughts were.

Indeed, he had yet to report on his findings at the attacked villages he had visited. Since his return he had been remarkably close mouthed and withdrawn. While in a way it was a blessing, Dais always had the most sarcastic comments among the warlords, Sekmeht couldn't help but want his former enemy/ally back the way he had been. Dais acting withdrawn and introverted was the same as Sekmeht acting sane. That just wasn't right.

Sekmeht sighed softly, there were many things not right. The boy…Yulie…had not been awake long before he had started asking disturbing questions. He had called for Kyra and asked what was purgatory. He had proceeded to tell them about how he had spoken with his mother, and it was not that wild woman in the woods, but his real mother. Who turned out to be dead, and was now in some place called 'heaven', and she had seen or found out about purgatory, that Anubis had been sent there rather than proceed straight on to 'heaven' like he had been promised by the Ancient. That Anubis and two others were free from this place called purgatory, and that some woman named Cyren was looking for him…and a hundred others details that Sekmeht had heard but not really listened to.

Sekmeht had thought at first that the brat was simply hallucinating from the head wound but after they had calmed the boy's coughing and eased his headache Kyra had sent them all from the room. When she had come out her expression was not a happy one. Then there was the incident with Torrent. Something had happened in that room and no one could say what. Ryo was still sorting out what had gone on in the room before he had gotten there. All he could get out of Yulie was that Cye had 'dark stuff' rolling off of him and it had made his head hurt bad. Then the armor bearer had disappeared and reappeared some time later looking haggard and exhausted. He was refusing to talk, just went to the room where he was staying and slept.

And now, here they all were, gathered in the Red Hall to try and understand what in the name of all the hell's had happened the day before. Sekmeht rubbed his temples; all of this linear thinking was giving him one hell of a headache. He was not used to having to think like this, normally he would put the facts down in front of him and let his mind coil around the facts in no particular order. Giving him a very jumbled and distinct view of any situation. This was too much like thinking like a human. This was to damn logical!

Kyra sighed and looked up around her. Obviously she was about to commence this meeting. Sekmeht gave a final rub to his temples and sat back determined that that he was not going to miss anything. By the expressions on everyone's face this was going to be a long day.


	16. News

Purgatory

A/N: OI! If you think this is a long interlude give me a break! You ain't seen nothing…Trust me, on this story I have had much longer. Part writer's block and part little thing called life. I am a 20 something married woman with a family. This is a hobby and form of relaxation, plus it was the HOLIDAY SEASON! No sane person can work an average of 64 hours, write and all of the other things involved with X-mas.

But for those who have continuously written reviews I thank and will try to serve something up a least every month. Once again, thank you for any and all reviews.

**Thanks for ticking me off…it really did light a fire.**

Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm just really having some fun. In no way am I making a profit.

Darklight13

Micah sat back on the bench, his eyes roaming the streets of the modern city behind his darkened lenses. Even sitting down he was really unable to get comfortable, having to fold his legs in a manner so that the humans walking by didn't have to step over said legs.

At six-foot six inches he stood out in any crowd, and even more so in this country. The Japanese tended to be much shorter than the average westerner. This form to him was after all the most comfortable one he could assume. His spiritual form tended to… outgrow any other human guise he took. Not that he was really comfortable in this form but sacrifices must be made to hunt in this world. Looking around he smirked lightly; he was the center of attention…again. His height did have much to do with it but his human emotions wouldn't let him be anything less than striking to the human eye. His hair a dark rich chocolate brown was long and pulled back into a loose tail at the base of his neck, his skin was naturally dark, and a muscular build with broad shoulders and long fingered hands had many women looking twice.

Yet it never failed that when he revealed his eyes to the public men and women flocked around him. It was once said that the eyes were windows to the soul, and his eyes could not contain the absolute richness of his soul. The wisdom in his eyes made him look so very much older than the other physical attributes. With the darkened lenses on he looked to be a cocky American or European at about 23 or 24, but when the glasses came off…that was another story.

At that moment one of his spiritual familiars floated up to him, ready to make a report. Visible only to him the creature appeared to take the form of a raccoon. He nodded slightly to the specter and listened to its report. His lips peeled back in a hiss/growl of anger as again it reported of Rinoa's slaughter of another human, this time an innocent child. Her soul had once again morphed and melded with the soul of the innocent. Poor child. If anything he would find Rinoa and make her pay for the death of the little one, killing corrupted men and women was one thing…an innocent child was a whole new ball game.

The spirit floated backwards to get away from his emotional aura. It was flaring a bright red on the spiritual realm, and the spirit did not want to be caught in one of those flares. They may be only on the metaphysical plane and not actually on the physical realm but they were very real to the spirits and would burn as fiercely as any fire.

Micah calmed himself; it wouldn't do to harm one of his own familiars. If he did then he may end up relying on one of the blasted humans of this city. Honestly, he was beginning to think that their smell was going to infect him with something. Humans: creatures to be pitied and cared for. They had no real intelligence about them; one day perhaps the Master would share why he loved these pathetic beings so much.

Shaking his head he cleared his mind of all but what was needed for the hunt. **_"Cyren. Has she given any report about Rinoa?" _**Was his telepathic question. Speaking out loud to no one would shake up these humans fragile order of things.

Once again the familiar backed away from Micah. With a shake of its head it confirmed what he had suspected for a while now. Cyren was going solo. This ticked off the cherubim to the highest degree, after all, SHE had come to HIM asking, no, begging for help and now she was going to take HIS Soul Hunters and go after the escapees by herself! On a cold day in Hell.

Unaware of his unintentional pun he lifted his head again to face the raccoon. Giving mental directions to the loyal spirit he then allowed it to race away and he continued to sit on that park bench, unaware now that the glances his way by the humans were no longer appraising, they were more of uneasy and fearful looks, for even a normal human could sense his furious rage. His anger was indeed so great that it crossed the boundries between the Mortal Realm and The Dynasty causing Cye Mouri to freeze in his spot as the power of the cherub's rage ripped through his awareness. Realization hit the bearer of the Armour Torrent, something very powerful was walking in the Mortal Realm and that something had a spiritually formidable capability. One that an as yet untried and (mostly) untrained Lady Kyra may not be able to handle.

Author's Notes and Facts:

_**The name cherub (cherubim** plural) denotes the power of knowing and beholding God. Their receptivity to the most high gift of light. Their contemplation of the beauty of the divinity in its first manifestation. They are filled by participation and divine wisdom and bounteously outpour to those below them from their own fountain of wisdom. -Dionysius._

"So He drove out the man; and placed at the east of the garden of Eden **Cherubim**, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life". Gen. 3:24

Yes, I know, Kyra is over 400 years old, but she has not been the Ancient's successor for all that long. I'm going by that point of view.


	17. Deal with the Devil

A/N: Stares at previous reviews Well it is nice to see that you all are really liking this. Feedback is appreciated. Any and All kinds infact.I would like to publicly say to Harry: thank you for sticking with me on this. Random as this can seem at times one good critic does help you go on. If you have any opinion on this please share. I really, really don't bite. (hard)coughcough Thanks!

DISCLAIMER: Money what money? Rights? Hah! Right, I wish. Who on earth is making money off of a bunch of characters that we DON'T OWN! We are just twisting and contorting them for our own sick and twisted pleasure. (Hopefully they won't be to emotionally scarred by it.) Any way, NOT MINE!

Darklight13

Purgatory

Sitting back letting the wind blow through her hair Cyren paused for a while. She had so much to do and yet…this needed to be addressed. Besides, the soul hunters were searching for the new sent. Rinoa was on a blasted field day, killing like crazy.

Looking up into the azure sky she wondered what life was like under this blue cover. Her life was lived in perpetual dusk. Where the sky was always a reddish hue, this …cerulean atmosphere was disconcerting.

The Dynasty was sealed from her for now, hunting Anubis and Siam was not an option. Why? She had never been prevented from going into any realm. Why now? Right when she needed to be in that realm the most. Rinoa was violent but Siam was …worse. In his sick mind s ahe had been fasting since the day the police had found him carving into a pregnant woman's body to eat the unborn child, with the poor woman still alive. They had been so horrified by her screams and when he had turned on them with the butcher knife there had been no hesitation. Six bullets had penetrated into his brain as another seven or eight filled his body.

The baby died, the mother not long behind it. Her soul had been so fragile that Cyren had allowed her to pass into glory with no resistance; she had suffered enough in life. Siam, on the other hand, had the book thrown at him. As a sociopath mass murderer he was a relentless, violent, matter-of-fact, charming man, prone to some of the most horrific feats known to mankind. Then able to wash his hands and go play ball with his children. Monster.

What was going on? What was the divinity thinking?

Sighing she rubbed her temple with her hand. This was giving her a migraine.

A sharp howl that turned into a yip sounded out. Cyren looked up to see a Hunter on the ground snarling at his feet. His canine-like muzzle was pulled back showing his fangs, eyes glowing red. He had been tripped. At seven feet something that was a long fall. Problem was who would trip him? Standing she made her way over to the beast. It was wriggling its paw-feet like it was trying to untangle something.

Once she reached it the Lady Justice knelt by the creature's feet. Looking intently she found what she was searching for. Finer than spider's silk and as strong as reinforced titanium the strands were commonly called demon glass. Though it was very rare, only those that were extremely blessed or ridiculously powerful had access to it. Somehow the Hunter managed to get his feet tangled or wrapped in the substance and fell. Or something had done it for him.

A chuckle came from her right. Turning she came face to muzzle with a….raccoon? A laughing on at that. "Explain."

The odd creature stopped laughing, but the sparkle never left it's eyes. It was only partially there. Cheshire cat like it was only half in this world. It seemed to be sitting in a portal of some kind where shadows sought to hide anything and everything. Casually propping its front paws on the edge of this portal in a leaning position, it answered with a question.

"Have you forgotten to do something recently?" Cyren frowned, stood and turned from the sprit. "I have better things to do than make reports to lackeys." With a snarl the Soul Hunter ripped off the last of the demon glass and lunged for the little spirit, claws and fangs first. With a quick swirl the portal shut saving the raccoon from harm. At the same time another portal opened up in front of Cyren and the specter popped up into her view

Again.

"Ah, I see, you have to save your pride and catch all of the escapees yourself, never mind the fact that you are using Micah's familiars and not your own AND forgetting the fact that you went to Micah begging for help. Who, by the way, got permission for you to leave your realm for an extended period of time and lobbied for clemency on your behalf for _your_ screw up. Yes you certainly have your priorities straight."

Cyren felt like snarling herself. Instead she decided to taunt the little spirit. "So your Master decides to send his little dog out to fetch me back to his side. I don't think so. I'm not his bitch that he can call back to his side"

Unfazed the raccoon turned his head and studied her. "Tell me Cyren, what kind of being is Micah?"

" He is a cherubim. You should know that, imbecile." Frustrated that her taunts had been ignored she sought to drive the little creature away. He was beginning to bother her. Maybe she should allow the Hunter his chance at revenge.

"Huh, odd." Odd? How was that odd? What was the spirit thinking? She turned and began walking away. The portal floated along with her, pacing her. " My lady, how do you think I got the demon glass?"

"Micah had given it to you" was her only response. The portal stopped in mid air and she continued on relieved that the blasted creature had decided to leave her alone. "You stupid woman." Freezing at that Cyren whirled to face the spirit. Her anger tinting her aura orange. The familiar did not back away, unafraid of her flaring temper.

"What?" she half whispered staring at the scoffing creature. "Think woman, stop letting your pride and ambition cloud your mind. Where is demon glass made? How long can it exist outside of its realm?" During this time she had been gathering her power to launch a spiritual attack on the familiar, but she paused. A few strong spirits devoted to their task and protecting their product for all eternity made demon glass in the Dynasty. Once taken out of that realm it would only last a few hours, then melt it would into nothing. The strands used on the hunter had been fresh. That meant…

"Micah has been to the Dynasty! That means that I…" "Cyren! Foolish, stupid, ignorant, self-centered idiotic woman. Look around you! Do you really think all of these hunters would be here if he had been?" Looking about her she realized that this was true. Micah could at any point call the hunters back to his side. (Why hadn't he done so already?) If he had found a way into the Dynasty he would have summoned them to him and left her here, in the Mortal realm to find Rinoa. But then how…?

Releasing her built up energy she studied the spirit before her. It would be a waste to heave it at him as it wouldn't even faze him. "Who are you?" she asked quietly. With as much reverence as she could muster.

This time when the spirit smiled it was a much more open. "Me? I'm just a being shadow and light. No one important, I'm just a trickster, a thief, and opportunist. But if it is a name your looking for you may call me Quicksilver. Information is my specialty."

"Information huh?" Cyren replied with a smile. The spirit was keeping something from her, oh well; let him keep his secrets she didn't really need to know much about the being. Just as long as she knew that he would not betray her. Obviously Micah had no idea what was working with him; else he would have sent some other sprit. No, Quicksilver had his own agenda. This was going to get interesting.

"Well then Quicksilver, let's make a deal."


End file.
